United States Presidential Election of 1988

Bush beat Dukakis 426 to 111, winning a third consecutive Republican term.

Overview

Vice President George Bush, once seen as a wimp, recovered a 17-point summer deficit against Michael Dukakis through the Willie Horton ads, the pledge of allegiance, and his thousand points of light convention, winning 426 to 111 with 53.4 percent. It was the first sitting vice president elected to the presidency since Van Buren in 1836. Dukakis's tank photo and death penalty fumbles became case studies in modern image politics, and Bush's read my lips tax promise would return to destroy him in 1992.